Chiefs enter the blackout derby

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 8, 2009, 6:47 PM EST

Throughout the 2009 season, several teams have had to scramble in an effort to sell all non-premium seats in advance of the 72-hour pre-kickoff deadline, which at times has been extended by 24 (and, in one case, 48) hours.

The usual suspects in this regard are the Chargers, Bengals, and (on one or two occasions) the Cardinals. Other teams, like the Raiders and the Jaguars, don’t even bother to seek an extension.

Entering the fray for the first time this year are the Chiefs, who at 3-9 host the Bills on Sunday in a game that will be played in the cold, and possibly in the snow.

The Chiefs have announced that 3,500 tickets need to be sold before Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Chiefs have not suffered a local blackout since December 16, 1990, giving the franchise a 155-game streak of sellouts.

“This has unfortunately become a more common occurrence in several NFL cities this year,” Chiefs COO Mark Donovan said. “The possibility of a blackout is caused by a combination of the current economic climate, inclement weather in December, a non-divisional opponent and our record.”

Look for the Chiefs and/or one or more of their sponsors and/or the local CBS affiliate that would be televising the game to step up and guarantee the purchase of any remaining tickets as of Thursday, with maybe a 24-hour extension provided to help shrink the final amount of the check that someone will have to write.

“The possibility of a blackout is caused by a combination of the current economic climate, inclement weather in December, a non-divisional opponent and our record.”
The correct answer is D.

chapnasty says:Dec 8, 2009 6:52 PM

WHO CARES ABOUT BLACKOUTS? I swear every week we have to hear about these things. The people in the area pay attention and are already aware so why in the hell does anyone else care?

AlexInEdmonton says:Dec 8, 2009 7:00 PM

It’ll sell out.

KENTUCKY FUK NUCKLE says:Dec 8, 2009 7:06 PM

The Chiefs fan base must be loyal , Given the terrible product the ownership & management have been putting on the field for the last 5 years…

Mr. Irrelevant says:Dec 8, 2009 7:07 PM

What better way to celebrate the Chiefs’ 50th season and 40th anniversary of their Super Bowl title by having by far the worst team in franchise history on the field and arguably one of the NFL’s three best fan bases not even show up.

Citizen Strange says:Dec 8, 2009 7:12 PM

I have to think there would be a lot more blackouts if the NFL goes to an 18 game schedule.

DTHOMAS58HOF says:Dec 8, 2009 7:31 PM

Lets have a string of blackouts to show management were pissed and need to acquire some good vets in Free Agency along with the draft

urbusted says:Dec 8, 2009 7:42 PM

Maybe the NFL needs to revisit their policy on local blackout of games. They could at least temporarily move to a percentage of total ticket sales to avoid blackouts. In addition they could move to a mean seating capacity throughout the league that would take into consideration some stadiums being larger than others. NAH…screw it. Just a thought.

newbaum turk says:Dec 8, 2009 8:00 PM

The Chiefs deserve this sooo bad. No organization in sports treated its fans (customers) as bad as the Chiefs did during the Carl Peterson years. I gave up my tickets after the 2007 season after 30 years, finally accepting the Hunt family just wants to make money. Before Lamar Hunt died, he was asked on the radio if he would rather win the Super Bowl and lose one dollar or not win the SB and make a dollar. His reply was to make the one dollar. I don’t think Clark fell too far from the tree in those beliefs. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 1992 season. Remember the Bengals of the 90’s? People forget the Chiefs were like that for almost all of the 70’s and 80’s. And now they are back to that level again. The weather here this week is awful and ticket prices have increased 300% since 1991 (no, I didn’t put an extra zero there). Hard to believe nobody wants to go see this crap.

nfcbeast says:Dec 8, 2009 8:04 PM

The only people that care about blackouts are the fans of the team its happening to. Sooo almost always Jaguars fans. If the fan is really motivated (which none are in JAX) if they can’t watch the game on TV they can just go to the stadium and get a ticket for like 20 bucks.

deederbob says:Dec 8, 2009 8:33 PM

I was at Arrowhead last Sunday and the stadium was about 70% capacity, and a good 20,000 of those were Broncos fans. Chiefs fans were clogging the exits after Croyles botched fake punt.

gopack says:Dec 8, 2009 8:47 PM

The Chiefs fans are not in the top three in fan base. Packers,Cowboys,Steelers fans are way ahead of the rest of the league.

clint9299 says:Dec 8, 2009 8:51 PM

I drove up to KC from STL this past weekend and what an absolutely disappointing trip that was. I have NEVER been more embarrassed at a Chiefs game in my life. Way to honor DT by giving up a ton of points and looking like a bunch of damn idiots on the field. I have been a Chiefs fan for years and I have truly gotten to the point that I just don’t care. The ownership has let the fans down for entirely too long. I hope the blackouts last into next season. Nothing against Haley, but, how about getting a coach that has HEAD coaching experience. I may be rambling a bit, but, I along with many other fans have had it. They are losing fans and revenue at an alarming pace. F my beloved Chiefs until they get their collective heads out of their arses!

JAG880 says:Dec 8, 2009 9:17 PM

Sales have been up for the Jags this week. Who knows, they may even ask for an extension this time around. If they they beat Miami, I guarantee the Colts Thursday nighter will be sold out. There’s been a big civic push for local companies to buy tickets for that game.

Tom says:Dec 8, 2009 9:44 PM

Not everyone really cares if there is a blackout or not. It doesn’t move up to the top of the priority list with most families. It is a game where the players are all millionaires and the fans have to sacrifice to get to set and watch their Chiefs lose again.

Farve On HGH: Get your facts straight, read above.
” The Chiefs have not suffered a local blackout since December 16, 1990, giving the franchise a 155-game streak of sellouts. ”
Your list is out of date

SeantheFinFan says:Dec 8, 2009 11:14 PM

FLORIO AGAIN WITH A USELESS ARTICLE

Bob Nelson says:Dec 8, 2009 11:54 PM

If the Chiefs were playing a good team it wouldn’t be a problem.
But it is the Bills.
Despite it being the Bills the game has sold more home tickets than any home game at smaller venues like the Metrodome and the Raiders stadium.
Just bad scheduling by the NFL.

packers4life says:Dec 9, 2009 3:41 AM

I have always thought the Chiefs fanbase was overrated since in pretty much every highlight I see of the Chiefs playing at home, half of the seats are empty.
Sure they have been bad for the past few seasons but the mark of a loyal fanbase is too fill those seats no matter how bad the team is.

CaseyInKC says:Dec 9, 2009 9:21 AM

Really packers4life? Overrated? The fact that we are selling out consecutively even though over the past three years we have only gotten to see 8 wins total says that our fanbase is NOT overrated and that we are diehard fans. Just because they stuck a meaningless game at the end of the year when it’s 15 degrees outside right now doesn’t mean that our fanbase is overrated. Why don’t you start worrying about beating the queens and we’ll worry about getting our stadium sold out (which will happen, I guarantee it)

Eazy E in KC says:Dec 9, 2009 5:53 PM

@packers4life
You aren’t a Chiefs fan so you have nothing to say. We stick it out every season wether they win or lose. I was there last week, like i’ve been all season and will go to the Bills game as well. Overrated? I think we are the strongest, most loyal fan base in the NFL.

gopack says:Dec 9, 2009 7:31 PM

The Packers never had empty stadiums in the mid to late 70’s and the mid 80’s to early 90’s when they had quite a few bad years. I can remeber how hard it was for me to find 2 tickets to my first game at Lambeau Field. It was 1991 and the 1-5 Packers were playing the Chicago Bears on 10-17 on a Thursday night. The Bears won 10-0 but the stadium was full till the end. I’ve been a Packer fan since 1965 and I have only seen one game that had empty seats and that was the 12-1-85 game against the bucs that was played in a blizzard.
Easy E the history and tradition in Green Bay was already past 40 years before the Chiefs ever had a football game. Also the Chiefs will be back to Lambeau in 2 years and I’ll bet you the farm they will not have as many fans show up as we did the last time we played at Arrowhead.
By the way there is a great Packer bar in Kansas City. It’s Coach’s bar and grill at 414 W 103rd street. The best tv’s have the Packers game with volume turned up.

CaseyInKC says:Dec 10, 2009 9:51 AM

gopack – You’re probably right about our fans traveling to Lambeau – because no one want to go to BFE Wisconsin. No body cares about packer bars in KC either. Empty seats or not – we’ve still got the best smelling parking lot in the league.